Local Schools To Beef Up Background Checks

New beefed-up background checks could catch criminals working in public schools in Central Texas.

Before the new system goes into effect in January, the Texas Education Agency, or TEA, is telling school districts what they can expect.

About one million school employees across the state will be required to have a criminal history background check performed.

Sports Park Guard Had Criminal Record

Dennis Myers, the Visalia Riverway Sports Park "guest host" who has admitted to stealing more than $10,000 in copper wire — shutting down the park's soccer-field lighting system in the process — has a long criminal history, public records show.

But city officials considered a full criminal-background check unnecessary because of Myers' performance as a 24-hour security employee for the contractor who built most of the sports park's infrastructure, said Visalia Parks and Recreation Department Director Vince Elizondo.

"He passed his drug test," Elizondo said. "And [he] came highly recommended by everyone we talked to."

Initial Approval Given for Student Background Checks

Some North Dakota university students would have to be fingerprinted and pay $55 for a criminal background check, under a plan given preliminary approval by the state Board of Higher Education.

Schools already can seek background checks using state or private firms, but they are not always as extensive as FBI reports, board members said. The plan discussed Thursday would require FBI criminal history reports for students and employees who are designated by the university chancellor.

Former Guard Accused of Robbing Bank

Kelly Murphy, 46, is accused of robbing a Grand Forks bank in March. Murphy had worked at the Grand Forks County Jail. He was fired after authorities learned he had provided a false middle name for a background check.

"We ran a criminal history check on him and everything came back fine," says Bret Burkholder, Grand Forks Co. Jail Administrator. "At that same time, we did take finger prints, and we ran fingerprints on him. They take about a week to get back, to ten days, that`s when we discovered the problem with Mr. Murphy.

Murphy has a criminal record in Colorado that includes harassment, stalking and assault.

Call for Better Background Checks for School Bus Drivers

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is calling for improvements to criminal background checks for bus drivers. His auditors found that many school districts and school bus companies will hire drivers, allow them on the road, while waiting up to 90 days for their criminal backgrounds to be cleared by the DMV.

After reviewing the records of 13 bus services in various parts of the State, the State Comptroller found that 12 percent of the bus drivers files did not include letters from the DMV indicating that their criminal history checks were complete.